The weather on Giglio Island normally sees rather high temperatures and little to no rainfall, conditions that the indigenous Ansonica varietal tolerates well. However, the 2018 vintage on the Island of Giglio started off with a significant amount of rain in the winter and into the spring, which was immensely helpful to restore the resources our old vines are well adapted to accessing. The summer to follow continued to see intermittent rain showers but quickly returned to being characteristically hot and dry, allowing the vineyards to dry out while leaving them the abundant water reserves. The harvest was actually very easy, and we were able to leave the grapes to hang about a week longer than usual. The result were very balanced grapes with a classic quality.

The grapes for Colore Bianco were sourced from the Pietrabona Vineyard on the Island of Giglio, a terraced vineyard situated on the southwest part of the island, facing the sea at an altitude between 200 and 500 feet. The vines, which are up to 100 years old are planted on thousand-year-old terraces built out of the rocky, granitic soils of the island. The vineyards are planted in the local “Giglio style,” meant to protect the vines from the winds and harsh winters, which involves training low to the ground on a modified guyot system. In 2018 we harvested a small section of Pietrabona, a one-hectare vineyard of 80-year-old vines, a full two weeks later than we would normally have harvested and we discovered that the grapes had developed remarkably. Thanks to longer hang time we got grapes with higher ripeness leading to higher alcohol levels and a wider range of aromatics. All clusters were handpicked and transported in small baskets to the winery, located at the center of the island at Castello del Giglio. The grapes were destemmed and gently pressed, then fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks for 6-7 days, 70% of the wine is moved to barriques that are equally divided between new, 1-year, and 2-years-old for another 10 days without temperature control. 30% of the wine completed the fermentation in stainless steel. 70% aged for 7 months in barriques in contact with lees (bâtonnage) and 30% in stainless steel.

100% Ansonica

100% Ansonica, the grapes for Colore Bianco were sourced from the Pietrabona Vineyard on the Island of Giglio, a terraced vineyard situated on the southwest part of the island, facing the sea at an altitude between 200 and 500 feet.  The vines which are up to 100 years old are planted on thousand-year-old terraces built out of the rocky, granitic soils of the island.  The vineyards are planted in the local "Giglio style," meant to protect the vines from the winds and harsh winters, which involves training low to the ground on a modified guyot system.